YellowDogBrewingCompany

Recipes 

I use an old chest freezer as a fermentation chamber.
I ferment at approximately 67 degrees.

After three weeks a large amount of mold and other "stuff0" starts to grow in my fermentation chamber.

It is a pain in the @$$ to clean up.

Is this normal?
What can I do to prevent it?
Will it impact my beer?

Thanks.

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Yellow Dog Brewing Company
"Follow The Dog"

goswell

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Chest freezers do not make good fermentation chambers, they are only marginally better for serving beer. The problem is they are not built to handle moisture the way a refrigerator is. Mold is a common problem, there is no way to keep it from happening. Some use Damprid but the best option is to get a refrigerator and use that.

Petey

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I've had the same issue in my fermentation fridge...try a tub or box of Baking soda. It doesn't stop it dead in its tracks for me but it takes a hell of alot longer for it to develop now.

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On Tap:
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Bert1097

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I use mine as a fermentation chamber/lagering chamber. I have quite a few 'shop towels' that I line the bottom of the freezer w/. I change these out after every cycle of fermentation.

The other thing I do is take up all of the dead space w/ 1 gallon water jugs. This helps regulate the temperature better by acting as a sort of insulation thereby lessening the amount of time the freezer has to run.

Like goswell says, it is tough to avoid but by doing what I've outlined above I have not had a problem w/ mold, just quite a bit of moisture. One more thing, try to limit the amount of time that the freezer is open; this allows moisture to condense inside.

Dunerunner

Recipes 

Keep a large thermal mass in the frige (as mentioned above), keep it dry. I hose my chest freezer down with Starsan every other week and wipe it dry.

Good Luck!

scottyb332

Recipes 

I Just set up a small fridge with the A419 controller and would like to avoid this problem.

What do you all think about using a few large silica gel packs; the kind used when you get items shipped to you?

DSmith

Recipes 

+1 to damprid. Had condensation pooling and sometimes mold in a fermentation chest freezer. Cleaned it up with starsan and put a bucket of damprid in and have't seen any condensation pooling since.

Hammy71

Recipes 

When you don't need it to work as a fermentation chamber (after the first week of fermentation or when not in use), leave it open. Stagnant moist air is your worst enemy. I use a fridge for my chamber, when it doesn't have a carboy in it, I have it cracked open a good six inches. Mold be gone....

TyTanium

Recipes 

Problem solved:

Eva-dry E-500 Renewable Wireless Mini Dehumidifer

danielbt

Recipes 

Non-clumping crystalline cat litter is a cheap source for the exact same silica crystal used in commercial desiccants. Make a bundle with a single layer of cheese cloth and toss it in to the bottom of your chest freezer.

Every few weeks, spray the inside of the freezer down with Starsan and you should be good to go. You can also help yourself by cleaning any wort drips off of the outside of your fermenter.